A lot of time and money goes into the communications cabinet or room of any business. Data cabling has to be kept away from power and lights. Power throws off large amounts of induction and this plays havoc with data transmission and bit errors and ultimately the overall speed of the network.
According to HTK Cabling Group , at the outlet end, the potential for signal degradation is just as high. In fact, most people, in an effort to tidy up the myriad of cables at their feet, end up bundling the blue data flylead to the power leads and throwing the lot on the floor, behind the PC. The office furniture needs to maintain segregation between power and data and have them stored neatly.
Another good idea is to get ‘Y’ power cables. With a male plug at one end and two female plugs at the other, customers can power their monitor and PC tower with the one lead. Lastly, customers can get a data flylead that is not too long. If they have a metre between the back of the PC and the wall outlet, then they can use a 1m lead.
Other devices can be fed from power points above bench height. Apart from the OHS requirement of twisting under the desk to get at power points, power above the desk will also reduce the use of non–protected power boards.
If customers are bringing cabling into a group of desks that need to be fed from the ceiling space, then service poles are the best solution. Service poles are made in a range of colours to suit the office décor and can reticulate cabling from the ceiling in a safe manner. Inside the pole, there is a segregation strip so that the power and data cables do not intermix.